Vortex
by adrell
Summary: A different take on 'girl ends up in Middle Earth' concept. Elisa Olander is a physicist who finds herself in Minas Tirith five years after the War of the Ring. However her misfortune wasn't the result of some mystical force; she had no one to blame but herself.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters other than Elisa. The credit goes to the rightful owners._

 **CHAPTER 1**

When you arrive at the hospital, they ask you to grade your pain out of ten. Elisa Olander would have rate it with a sparkling twenty if she could speak. She tried to scream, to cry but her mouth did not oblige. Imagine the worst pain you've ever experienced. Now multiply it with ten. That wasn't even close to what she felt at that moment. Her blood boiled in her veins, there was a throbbing pain in her head and it felt like every bone in her body had been crushed.

She wished for the sweet release of death, for the pain to end. _No more_ , her mind pleaded. _Please, I can't take it anymore. Please._ She waited and waited. Hours turned into days and days turned into weeks but no one came to save the poor woman.

After what it felt like years, the pain started to subside and when she finally found the strength, she opened her eyes only to see a room full of people milling around.

Before she could stop herself, three words slipped through her lips, " _Did it work?_ " All eyes turned to her. She sat up in her bed which was more comfortable than anything she had ever touched or layed on.

"Well." She insisted. "Did it work?" Only then she realized, she didn't recognize anybody and started to panic. "Where am I?" Elisa pushed herself and jumped out of the bed which sent shooting pains all over her body.

"Please. M'lady. Return to your bed. You are yet to heal." One of the men said in a soothing voice.

"You can't... keep me _here_." She hissed, trying to regain her balance. "Wherever the hell here is. People will notice that I'm gone and they _will_ come after you."

Her gaze darted around her surroundings. She was in a squarish room with almost nothing in it. The walls were made of stone and decorated with various tapestries. It was almost as if she was in a museum. Men were all dressed strangely as well. They were wearing medieval clothes which didn't make sense at all. Where was she? Who were these people?

One of the men took a step forward. "You are not well." He said like it wasn't the most obvious thing in the world. "We are physicians and we are very good at what we do. You have no reason to worry."

He then turned to the others. "Inform the king about the condition of our guest." The rest nodded and left the room, leaving Elisa alone with a complete stranger. Once everyone was gone, the man turned his attention back to the woman

Elisa raised an eyebrow and stared at the 'physician'. "Don't bullshit me." The man's eyes widened at her choice of word. "This isn't a hospital. And what _king_? Is this a _cult_? Are you after my works? If you are, you might as well kill me now, 'cause I'll never talk."

The man stared at her like she was crazy. "You are confused which is understandable." He looked lost for words. "No one is after you, I promise. You are in Minas Tirith, my lady. The city of kings. Our patrols found you a few days ago and brought you here."

"I was at the lab five minutes ago." _Or was it five years ago?_ Elisa shivered remembering the pain. What had happened? "Yes. Me and my co-workers were working on... _Oh god._ "

Elisa froze. The world stopped spinning and collapsed around her. _This isn't happening,_ she kept telling herself. _This isn't happening!_

While the young woman was busy having a break down, the said king had come and realised the physician of his duties for the day.

"M'lady?" Elisa snapped out of her trance and looked at the newly arrived man. He had brown hair that reached his shoulders and was wearing visibly better clothes than the others. Elisa could tell he was a man of importance.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn, the High King of the Reunited Kingdom." He bowed slightly and Elisa kept staring, trying to process everything that had happened.

"And I am... _royally screwed_."

...

Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. The upcoming ones will be longer I swear. This was meant to be like a prologue but in a chapter format. I don't even know if that made sense. Anyway, I know I'm not the best at this writing thing but hey, I gave a shot. Let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is always welcomed.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer can be found in chapter 1.**_

 _..._

 **CHAPTER 2**

"And I am... royally screwed."

"I do not understand." Said Aragorn.

"Of course you don't."

Elisa knew she was being rude. These people had taken her in their homes, healed her and showed her kindness but at that moment she did not care. She had much bigger problems. The young woman had managed to get herself stuck in a different time and possibly in a different world.

Aragorn broke the silence. "Why don't we discuss this tonight at dinner?" Elisa blinked. The king continued. "I will send someone to help you get prepared and bring you to the main hall."

"Alright." was all Elisa could say. She watched as the king give her a little nod and leave the room. She managed to mumble a thank you right before he exited but she doubted he heard.

Left alone with her thoughts, Elisa sighed. What was she going to do? The weight of what she had lost crushed her. She would never be able to see her family again. She'd never be able to watch TV again, or check twitter, or drink a Starbucks coffee.

She broke into tears. She cried and cried and cried. Then suddenly it hit her. "I am a scientist." She said out loud, even though there was noone in the room but herself. "I made this happen and I can do it again." As impossible as it sounded, Elisa truly believed that. She would find a way back home or die trying. She had to gather information, learn everything there is to know about the planet. They couldn't be that primitive, they must at least know what astronomy is.

A knock on the door, dragged her out of her bubble of thoughts.

"Yes?"

A young maiden came in. She had beautiful blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. She walked towards the middle of the room and stopped right before the bed. "My lord Aragorn has sent me."

"To help me get ready?"

The girl nodded and gestured towards the dressing table. Elisa, without saying anything, stood up and sat where the girl asked her to.

"What is your name?" Elisa found herself asking. "I figured I should at least know your name if you'll be... You know... Touching my scalp."

The girl smiled and answered, "Alianor."

"Nice to meet you, Alianor. I'm Elisa Olander since you didn't ask."

"Such a strange name." Alianor muttered as she gently combed her hair.

"Yeah? Well... I'm Swedish."

After her hair was done, Alianor asked her to stand up so she could dress her. Even though Elisa insisted she was fully capable of dressing herself, she found herself standing fully naked in front of the other girl. A few more awkward moments and Elisa was finally ready. The pair left together and Alianor quickly lead her through the halls to the dining area.

Elisa's jaw nearly fell at the sight that stood before her. She had assumed it would be only her and the king and maybe a few of his confidants so that they could properly discuss her situation but this was something else. "This is a celebration." There was a long dining table in the middle of the huge room and five smaller ones surrounding it with at least ten people sitting at each one of them.

"Yes." Alianor nodded. "It is the five year marking of the Ring of War and many guests from distant lands have been invited to celebrate, including members of the fellowship."

Neither of those words made any sense to Elisa but she didn't quarrel. "Great."

"I will be taking my leave now. Please, summon me if you need anything at all."

"How?" Elisa turned slightly so she was facing the maiden. "How the hell would I 'summon' you? Yell your name?"

Alianor didn't reply and simply let out a soft chuckle before turning around and walking away, leaving Elisa standing alone in the middle of a crowded hall. She started walking around and only a few moments later her gaze found Aragorn. Sitting gracefully next to the king was the most beautiful being Elisa had ever lay eyes on. She had long brown hair reaching to the small of her back. Her skin glowed as if it was lit from underneath. Oh, and her eyes. Elisa couldn't find the words to describe those piercing blue eyes. At that moment, the young scientist felt very small. She never was the type to care about appearances. No, she was a woman of science. To her only thing that made a person attractive was intelligence and knowledge but she could make an exception for the pretty lady.

After a moment of hesitation, she approached the couple and cleared her throat. Again, all eyes were on her and she wished to disappear.

"Hello." She greeted.

"I pleasures me to see you up and well, my lady." Aragorn said with a bow of his head. "Let me introduce you to my wife." He then gestured towards the woman. "Lady Arwen of Imladris."

"Hello." Said Elisa again, lost for words. "I'm Elisa." This earned her a slight chuckle from the lady.

"Delighted to make your acquaintances." Arwen said. Her voice was so melodic and soft and wonderful that it could have made an angel weep, Elisa thought.

"You too." She said awkwardly.

"Please, join us Lady Elisa." Said Aragorn, pointing the seat next to them.

Elisa obliged. In a matter of seconds there was a plate filled with food right in front of her and a glass of what she assumed was wine.

"Thank you." Elisa said. "For everything, I mean. For finding me, saving me."

Aragorn raised her hand. "Nonsense. It is my duty to take care of the people of this world. And my pleasure." He said with a smile forming on his lips.

Elisa averted her eyes when he said ' _people of this world._ ' "Right. About that. I think we need to talk." She said, looking down at her plate. "Somewhere... You know, more private."

Aragorn's smile fell. "What troubles you?" He asked.

Before Elisa could answer, Arwen jumped in on the conversation. "Whatever it is, you should be comfortable talking about it here. You are among friends, my dear. The people you see on this table were all part of the fellowship and played a large part in the destruction of the ring, as well as the defeat of Sauron, the dark lord."

Only then did Elisa realize the crowd. There were two children with faces of grown men sitting across the table and a dwarf placed right next to them, neither of which seemed to be interested in the conversation or the strange woman.

"Oh." Was all she could say.

"Merry, Pippin!" Aragorn called. All three dropped whatever they were doing and turned. "This is Lady Elisa. She is our guest for tonight."

"I thought _we_ were the guests." One of the children huffed, frowning and Elisa saw the other one kicking him under the table.

"Excuse the hobbit, lady Elisa." The dwarf apologised on their behalf.

"No, it's fine." Elisa mumbled. _Hobbit_? Was that slang for _shortie_ around here?

"I am Gimli, son of Glóin and these two are Merry and Pippin from the Shire."

Was it customary for people include their fathers' name or where they come from when introducing themselves? Elisa took a mental note. If she were to get these people to help her find a way back home, she needed them to like her, to earn their trusts.

"Nice to meet you." She flashed a smile across the room. "Gosh, people are all so nice here."

"Is that not the case where you hail from?" Asked Merry.

"Not usually, no."

"And where exactly is that?" Gimli, son of Glora or glo-something asked. Elisa looked around, everybody seemed eager to learn the answer.

"Well," She shifted in her seat. "I was born in Zurich which is in Sweden but then my family moved to England when I was like five and grew up there."

"I have never heard of such places my lady. " Aragorn commented.

"Yes, actually that was what I wanted to talk to you about."

"You are not of this world." Arwen finally said. A silence fell across the table.

Everyone spoke at once. "How is that possible?" "How did you get here?" "Are you a sorcerer?" A million questions rose and frankly Elisa wasn't sure how to explain all that. How much of what she knew she could give away? Would that be breaking the laws of space and time? Was there even such thing?

"Come on, guys." Elisa sighed. "This is your night. We can discuss all this later. Celebrate. Have fun." She needed more time to gather her story. She needed to know more about these people before she could spill. Most of them weren't human, she could tell. Which made sense since they were technically aliens.

Just when they were about to protest, the large doors opened and closed with a loud bang and a group of fairies entered the room. Well they weren't fairies, Elisa figured but they sure all looked like one.

Just like Arwen they were all inhumanly beautiful. It was hardly a deduction to say them and Arwen were the same species. A young man - or whatever the hell they were - stood before them. He was no doubtedly the leader. If the way he carried himself hadn't gave it away, the silver crown on his head would.

"Williams syndrome." Elisa muttered to herself. _What do they have a club or something?_

The prince or king or the leader, whoever he was, walked straight up to Aragorn. They both placed their hands on eachother's shoulders and said something in a language Elisa didn't recognize.

The blonde one turned to Elisa, and in a voice as melodic as Arwens he said, "Pleasure to meet you, lady Elisa." He then bowed, his eyes fixed on hers, grabbed her hand and gently pressed his lips to her knuckles. "I am Prince Legolas of the Woodland Realm."

Elisa felt her heart fasten, adrenalin pumping through her veins. _Stop it_ , she told herself. _Stop it this instant. You have a boyfriend for heaven's sake._ Her mind protested, _Yes, but you haven't seen him in so long that your vagina itches at the sight of the first pretty boy you see._

Giving herself a mental shake, she cleared her throat and said, "You too." before pulling her hand away.

"Legolas!" The 'hobbits' jumped up and down with joy.

"We were afraid you weren't going to show up, laddie." Gimli added. Legolas simply smiled and took the only seat available which was right next to Elisa.

 _Oh, Jesus Christ._

"You're in time." Aragorn, said grinning. The arrival of the prince seemed to have brought glee to everyone around. "Elisa was just about to tell us the remarkable story of her coming here."

Elisa considered it for a second. There was no going back now. _I might as well lay it all on the table and see where it goes from there._

"You really want to know?" She said in an one last desperate attempt to change the subject but didn't get a reaction. " _Fine_. Here's what happened."

...

 _Well, that's chapter 2 for you. Hope you enjoyed it. Tell me what you think! :)_


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